Rodents Blamed for Thursday’s Paris Las Vegas Outage, Many Visitors Remain Angry

Posted on: October 25, 2020, 03:24h. 

Last updated on: August 2, 2021, 01:06h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Paris Las Vegas’ Thursday night power outage was blamed on rodents damaging a nearby electrical transfer switch, according to Nevada news reports. The outage led to frustrated hotel visitors who struggled to find their way in darkened hallways for hours.

NV Energy confirmed the switch damage to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The damage took place a distance away from the iconic Las Vegas Strip property.

The outage affected the Paris venue and 15 other utility customers in the neighborhood, the report said. Both the casino and the Bellagio Fountains were darkened, social media and news reports said.

Numerous guests complained about the casino’s response to the outage. There was poor communication with hotel guests, some visitors said.

Exit Signs Unlit in Hallway

Janet, a guest on Paris’ 19^th floor, posted on Casino.org “Shame on this corporation” in reference to Caesars Entertainment, which operates the hotel-casino.

“We were told after 1/2 hour into the blackout on the last in-room phone call to come down to the casino floor,” Janet said.

She left her room and walked into a dark hallway. The eight or more exit signs were not lit.

I used the flashlight on my phone to exit the 19 floors down the stairway to an exit on the alley,” Janet added.

“When we got to the front desk to a fully lit casino floor, we were told to evacuate the building. People were still playing slot machines while we were outside looking in.”

She later called to inquire from the hotel why exit signs were not lit. “I was told it’s not like they did this on purpose,” Janet said.

“We weren’t even allowed to come in to use the bathrooms,” she added, recalling how guests were kept away from their rooms during the outage. “They, however, were allowed to still gamble.”

Even after getting back in the hotel room, Janet said they did not have air conditioning or hot water for which to take a shower before a Friday morning flight back home.

Sad the way the guests were treated. I noticed the same exit signs on the way out…still not lit,” Janet said.

The Paris outage started around 7:08 pm. Lights came back on about 9:50 pm, officials told local media.

In 2016, a prior outage led to aggravated visitors to Paris Las Vegas. That outage was blamed on a construction crew accidentally drilling through the property’s main power line.

Rodent Complaints Increase

In recent months, exterminators around Las Vegas have had more calls regarding rodent control, the Review-Journal said.

The reports come as many restaurants were closed or saw a reduced number of patrons because of the coronavirus pandemic. That led to less refuse in dumpters, the Review-Journal said.

In other US travel-destination cities, such as New Orleans, precautions put in place to curb the risk of COVID-19 transmission also led to an increased number of rodents on the streets, CBS News reported.

Before, rodents apparently found food from scraps left in alleyways. But not so since the pandemic restaurants were shuttered to block coronavirus spread.

In March, there were reports that rodents moved away from alleys to the New Orleans streets looking for food, CBS added.